Controllable preparation of VO2@m-SiO2 and its light transmittance and thermal insulation properties of PVB composite films.

[Display omitted] • Core-shell mesoporous silica-coated VO 2 (M) nanomaterials (VO 2 @m-SiO 2, VmS) were prepared for the first time. • VmS pore size 3.1769–12.8257 nm, thickness 13–58 nm and structurally controllable. • T c and ΔT c of VmS decrease with increasing mesoporous pore size at suitable thicknesses. • The VmS5/PVB composite film A-T lum up to 62.24%, ΔT sol reach 5.16%. • VmS effectively improves the Mie scattering effect of feedstock VO 2 (M). In this study, a hybrid approach using the Stöber and solvent extraction techniques was employed to synthesize mesoporous silicon-coated VO 2 nanomaterials (VO 2 @m-SiO 2 , VmS) with controllable pore sizes and shell thicknesses. This synthesis was aimed at elucidating the influence of mesoporous silicon coatings on the thermochromic effect and optical properties of VO 2. Experimental findings reveal that the mesoporous silica architecture markedly improve the phase-transition hysteresis of VO 2 while mitigating the Mie effects attributable to particle coarsening, under the appropriate shell thickness. Furthermore, concomitant with the enlargement of the mesoporous aperture, the T lum and ΔT sol of the VmS/PVB films also exhibit upward trends. T lum reaches 73.33% and 62.24% in VmS3/PVB and VmS5/PVB, peak ΔT sol reaches 5.16% in VmS5/PVB. The facile synthesis procedure of VmS, in conjunction with its superior performance across phase transition, optics, and thermal insulation metrics, offers a viable pathway for industrial-scale deployment of VO 2 (M) in smart window applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]